


Enduring

by MadelineL



Category: Robotech/Voltron (Comics), Voltron: Defender of the Universe because 'Lion Force' is literally nothing in existence
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Crying Lotor, F/M, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2019-10-08 17:55:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17390969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadelineL/pseuds/MadelineL
Summary: After the comet alters reality, sending Lotor back into the status quo of being a prince, he can't rest until he sees for himself that Allura truly is back on Arus.





	1. Chapter 1

Lotor began to pace across his room. It was his old room, not the new one he had set up for himself as King.

_Back to this shit._

He sighed, stopping as he ran his hands down his face. It didn’t matter, in the end. He would eventually have the crown again, and this time Allura wasn’t missing. Continuing to pace once more, he tried to think of any way to even… talk to her. He had yelled at Haggar about how he didn’t care about the way the comet worked. That wasn’t entirely true, he had just been preoccupied with finding Allura. He was mildly curious if the princess would explain any of it to him if he could just talk to her.

His own impatience was making him impatient. He looked down in his anger, and saw that he had thrown his helmet in frustration when he had entered his rooms. Frowning at how it symbolized him being a mere prince once again, since it was back to being the only thing to adorn his head now. He kicked it hard. The metal clanged as it bounced against the hard walls, coming to rest near the end of his bed. One of the wings was now bent at an extreme angle. He tried to resist the urge to kick it again, instead throwing an empty goblet at it. The glass shattered as it hit, taking his anger with it.

_This will not do…_

 

–

 

Breathing deep, Allura relaxed into the cool summer evening. She could see flashbugs in the fields, far below the dark balcony she was on. She couldn’t stop smiling about being back on Arus. The... comet was an experience she didn’t want to have again, and she was still shaken up from it. Her own memories still felt a bit foreign to her. But through all that, being on Arus was calming. She would be reluctant to leave for some time yet.

...she screamed into a gloved hand that clamped over her mouth.

Allura tried to thrash, but was held steady against the person’s body. She looked down, from the dim light spilling through the doors to inside, she could tell the glove was white. Fear overtook her as she realized it was probably Lotor.

“Stop,” he hissed in her ear. “I’m not here to hurt you or take you. I just want to talk. Please... stop screaming.”

She felt anger at his words. He immediately grabs her and expects her to believe him? And to not scream?

In response, she decided to bite one of his fingers over her mouth. He growled but didn’t relent. It probably didn’t even hurt that much through the leather.

“ _Please_ , Allura. I’m being serious. I don’t want to take you anywhere, I just want to calmly talk with you.”

The princess elbowed him in the side and he grunted in pain but didn’t let go.

“STOP,” he hissed in her ear. “I’ll take my hand off your mouth if you promise not to scream or run away. I just. want. to. talk. If you make a noise I _**will**_ take you somewhere quieter so you listen.”

She stopped squirming.

“Nod if you agree to the terms.”

She sighed, and felt him relax slightly. Being pressed so close to him, she could feel when he inhaled against her hair. It was obvious he was trying to maintain a sense of... decorum, even with their bodies sharing their heat in the crisp air.

The princess nodded, and he slowly lowered his hand. She didn’t scream.

“Are you going to unhand me, now? I dislike being pressed up against you,” she said with a bitterness she hoped he felt.

It was his turn to sigh, and she could tell he reluctantly let he go. She’d never talk to him if he held her without her consent, that’s how it always happened.

She scampered away from him. He frowned at her. Glancing towards the door, he seemed about to sigh again, but she didn’t move towards it. Instead, she looked at him.

“Well? What do you want?”

He frowned harder than she had ever seen.

“Where were you?”

“What?

“I asked where you were? I came here and your castle was gone. Everything was gone. There was only a mural with you and your pilots and that damned comet.”

Allura looked at him with a confused look on her face.

“I don’t… understand. We were transported across the stars, sometime in the past. The castle wasn’t with me. My memories weren’t even with me.” She wrapped her arms around herself, and it was all he could do to not put his arms there instead.

Lotor looked away and was shaking his head to himself, muttering. Several moments of went by before he spoke directly to her.

“I was king, too...” he said softer than any words she had heard form him before, and turned to look out across the nighttime fields.

“What?”

He turned to look at her, a pained expression on his face.

“My father was dead, I was king. I came looking for you, and I guess because of my proximity to the comet it changed my life and I remember the changes. I don’t know, Haggar was vague about the effects…,” he said as he trailed off. He moved to the railing and laid his hands across it, closing his eyes.

“You were part of the changes, too?” She almost couldn’t believe the worry in her own voice. Worry for him!

“As it seems.” His voice sounded strained.

Allura saw him jump slightly when she reached out to put a hand on his forearm. He stared down at her fingers,

“I’m sorry, that must have been... a difficult adjustment.” She paused, and removed her hand. “I lost all my memories when Blue Lion crashed. I only remembered anything because of my feelings for Keith.”

As soon as the words left her, she made a small gasp and put her hands to her mouth. His head snapped to look at her, and she stopped breathing. She unconsciously started to back away from him when she saw he was gripping the railing like a vice.

“Your… feelings?” he said with obvious anger in his voice.

“I… I didn’t… I...”

He looked away from her, and closed his eyes.

“Goodnight, Princess,” he said before he launched himself over the railing. She ran over and looked down, but he was out of sight.

Her head was swimming. She never meant to say such a thing to his face, she knew it would make him rage, and that was the last thing she needed from an invader. While he had been clearly angry, he didn’t direct any of it at her. He just… left. Why did he even want to talk to her in the first place? To check up on her?

Allura was suddenly incredibly curious, and also had a pang of regret in how he had left. They were finally, _finally_ talking as equals, without anyone having the upper-hand, and she had ruined it by shoving her love for Keith in his face. That was a very bad way to part.

She ran inside to throw on some pants and boots.

 

–

 

The air was far more crisp than she expected as the night carried on. She had been looking for at least an hour, and had seen no sign of him. She was considering giving up when she saw a reflection of something in the distance. Following it, she began to see a dark void in the trees; his black ship.

Allura was surprised he was still there at this point. It was powered down, and she was beginning to wonder where he could possibly be when she spotted him.

Lotor was sitting in the grass next to his vessel. His knees were pulled up and his head was tucked into his arms. She blinked and stopped moving. Being near enough now, she could hear him whimper out a small sob. It made her feel sick at the thought he was so upset by her having feelings for someone else that she had brought the fearsome drule prince _to tears_. She bit her lip, it was too late to not approach.

The princess said his name softly, and his head snapped up. She could feel her eyes begin to water at seeing his face glistening with shed tears. Once he recognized her, he turned away.

“Please leave.”

“You wanted to talk to me, but you left.”

“ _Please_ , leave me be.” His voice was strained and hoarse.

Allura dropped to her knees next to him, and put her hand on his shoulder.

“I’ve asked you the same many times over the years and yet you never did. You’re hurting, it’s probably not wise for us to leave off where we did.”

He turned back to her snarling and shaking her hand off his shoulder.

“There is no ‘ _us.’_ Go back to your _Commander_ , Princess. You’re not needed here.”

She frowned down at him and he scowled back. She hadn’t wanted to ever let him be aware of how she felt about Keith, it was obvious he would react poorly… and now she felt guilty about it. Why should she feel guilty over who she chose to love? A thought burst into her head and it made her feel terrified.

_You only love Keith because it’s easy to love him._

The guilt increased, and she put her hand back on Lotor’s shoulder. His reaction was instant and clearly not thought out.

He shoved her arm, and it sent her tumbling backwards. The loud sound her head made as it slammed into the underbelly of his ship drowned out Lotor yelling her name as she fell over, unconscious.

 

–

 

Allura’s small frame crumpling after that horrendous sound her head made against the fuselage made his stomach lurch. He was by her side in an instant. Feeling for a pulse, he he let out a sigh. She was at least alive.

Briefly, the prince considered just taking her to Doom. Here was his chance. He had always been after this. But when faced with the reality of taking her from her home like this, he felt like he was glued to the ground.

_I have to take her to her castle. It’d be foolish to do anything else..._

He picked her up, and cradling her head against his chest, he sprinted back towards her castle.

The closer it loomed overhead, the worse he felt. Running across the drawbridge, he was confused why nobody had even noticed him yet.

_Idiots, no wonder I always get inside._

Lotor kicked the small side door repeatedly. When someone finally opened it a crack, he shoved it open with his foot, sending the person tumbling backwards. He launched himself inside while holding her. In an instant, there was guards around him.

“Where’s your damn doctors in this place?” he barked. One of them moved forward, and glaring, told him to follow him. The man lead Lotor deeper into the castle.

 

–

 

“She hit her head. Hard. On… the side of my ship.”

The doctor was openly hostile towards him, but Lotor was ignoring it. He had to explain what happened so they could help her. He didn’t trust the humans to be able to figure out anything.

“Thank you, you may leave. You cannot help her any further,” the doctor said in obvious dismissal.

Lotor didn’t move. The doctor opened his mouth to say something obviously nasty, when the waiting room filled with Lion pilots.

“Where is she?”

“Is she okay, Gorma?”

“Someone throw him in chains!”

Lotor closed his eyes for a second, attempting to remain calm. She wouldn’t like it if he caused a ruckus with her pilots.

Keith’s voice was suddenly next to him, clearer against all the outside noise.

“Lotor, what happened?” The fact they never gave him his proper title and respect was always a source of annoyance.

He opened his eyes and looked down at the man. It look all his energy not to launch himself at him to choke the life out of the puny human that Allura _ha_ _s_ _feelings_ for. He closed his eyes.

“She… that is, she put her hand on my shoulder and I... threw her off. In retrospect it was a bit too hard, and she stumbled backwards and slammed into my ship.”

“YOU SHOVED HER, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” one of the other pilots yelled and grabbed at Lotor.

A scuffle broke out.

Lotor ended up with his back to the wall, hunched over and breathing hard, a trail of blood running from his lip to his chin. He’d done his best to just keep them off of him, not to harm them. Besides not wanting her ire when she woke, he wasn’t stupid enough to not notice he was alone in their castle. He was essentially trapped, fighting them wouldn’t do much good.

“If you are all done fighting, please leave,” the doctor stated flatly. Lotor didn’t move until he felt someone grab him by the back of his collar. He forced himself to be calm, and went where they led.

He had expected the dungeons, and was shocked when it was into a sitting room. There was arguing behind him before he was lightly pushed into the room. He heard Keith yelled at them to shut their mouths, and the door to the room slide closed behind him, leaving silence in it’s wake. He turned around and watched the Voltron commander kick the leg of a chair on his way to the small liquor cabinet in the corner of the room.

Keith turned to glare at him.

“We both need a drink,” he stated and Lotor was shocked when the man grabbed two glasses and filled them both half with a dark brown liquid.

He moved back to where Lotor was standing and handed him one of the glasses. Keith took a gulp while the prince stared at it. After a moment, he also brought it up to his mouth. It burned the cut on his lip, but he took a swig. The heat of it going down his throat really did calm him slightly.

Keith moved to the sofas, and gestured for Lotor to sit across from him. There was silence for a full minute while they both processed the last ten minutes.

“We both know you wouldn’t willingly harm her, so I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt since instead of just whisking her away to Doom, you brought her back here.” He paused, speaking lower. “Nobody even knew she was out of the castle. You would have had at least a six hour head start.”

Allura’s words echoed in his head. _“…_ _because of my feelings for Keith.”_

“That would have been a pointless endeavor,” Lotor said before he drained the glass and stared at the floor. He refused to look up at the man, but could feel his eyes on him.

“You know we can’t let you just leave, right? At least not until she’s awake. If she wants to throw you out on your ass when she’s awake, I’ll not argue with her. But until then, you’re our prisoner.”

Lotor nodded at him, but was already going over the various means of escape from their lax security he was already aware of. He was sure he’d find a few more on the way out.

Several hours later, Lotor closed his eyes as his ship entered Doom airspace. They probably were aware he was gone by now. If he’d been able to be closer to where Allura was when she woke, he would have just stayed. I was obvious they would never have given him information about her in the dungeons, so he was gone nearly as soon as the cell door latched.


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Allura was aware of when she began to wake was a terrible headache. When she felt brave, she cracked open one of her eyes. When her eye focused, she saw Keith’s worried face. Immediately after, she felt sick to her stomach. A bucket of some sort was under her mouth, and she barely didn’t miss.

Her head was still in pain, and she was incredibly dizzy. The other pilots came to visit her when they heard she was awake.

“He didn’t ‘shove’ me,” Allura said, irritation filling her voice.

“Come now, Princess, he admitted it to the doctor.” She glared at Lance.

“Lance, stop arguing.”

“Please, I just want to rest. I’m so tired.”

Keith frowned.

“If that’s what you want…,” he said as he ushered everyone out of the room but didn’t leave himself.

“Allura, I sat down and spoke to Lotor after. I know he didn’t mean you harm. It was a bit shocking when he showed up at the castle carrying you in his arms. He really did take you straight to Doctor Gorma.”

She couldn’t help but stare at Keith, and he gave her a small grin.

“Who knows, maybe he finally gave up on chasing you and decided to leave you be?”

Allura looked down at her hands, trying not to cry. It was all too much.

He stayed for a while. Everything they talked about was superficial. It was such normal conversation for them, but the princess was now hyper aware of how… bland it all was. Like porridge with no flavoring.

Eventually, Keith left her to rest.

In the silence that followed, she started to frown hard. While Keith had been by her side, he just seemed… distant. Nothing was amiss, was he always like that? It was a sharp contrast to everything emotional that was Lotor.

_Why am I thinking about him?_

She frowned harder, trying to piece together the interactions she had with the prince before she hit her head. Lance claimed she had been pushed, but she remembered distinctly the terrified look on Lotor’s face as she fell backwards. The drule was always so ardent, it was no wonder she had found him bawling into his arms.

Keith was kind. He was intelligent. He was a good leader. A princess and her knight, it was very romantic... from the outside.

_But a princess and a prince is a realistic match_ , she thought warily.

Pushing her thoughts back to Keith, she continued to frown. He had barely ever touched her. He’d never tried to do more than give her a peck on the lips. He never even went out of his way to try and spend time with her. She felt weird thinking about how Lotor had spent more time alone with her since the comet incident than Keith had.

_Does Keith even really love me, or is it just convenient for us both?_

Allura started to feel sick again, and it had nothing to do with her injury.

 

–

 

Somewhere in his drunken stupor, Prince Lotor had heard mention of Princess Allura being up and about. King Zarkon had ranted about how if he had known she wasn’t able to pilot her lion, he would have sent someone else to attack them _since his worthless son_ was busy drinking himself to death. Lotor ignored his father and buried his woes into the cleavage of the nearest woman in his bedroom.

It had been two weeks since the incident. A message arrived for the prince, and he intended to ignore it, thinking it was something stupid.

The Imperial Messanger leaned in close, and whispered to him. “It originated from Arus, Your Highness.”

Lotor was instantly alert, and thankful he had been slowly sobering up. Sending everyone from his rooms, he clicked the data disk into his tablet. There was only one sentence.

_Let’s continue our discussion from where we were._

For a solid minute, he forgot to breathe.

It had to be from Allura.

He reread the message so much that it began to lose meaning. The prince had assumed that she wouldn’t remember them ever talking, since she had hit her head right after. People usually forgot the most immediate things that happened when they injured themselves like that, but she had clearly remembered it all.

His heart was racing. Why was she so determined to keep talking to him? Was she purposefully torturing him, knowing she had thrown it in his face she loved another man? A pathetic human, at that!

_No… she had been… ashamed of her feelings? Reluctant? Why had she been so upset about mentioning it to me?_

It had been just long enough that while still a sore spot, he could think on it without wanting to bury his woes between a pair of beautiful legs.

Sighing, he went to erase the message. It wouldn’t be good to be found with it. His finger hovered, and he couldn’t bring himself to press. He sighed again. Taking out the data stick, he threw it under his bed.

 

–

 

It had been two days since she had sent the message to Prince Lotor.

There had been no way for him to reply, so she had just been sneaking out at night with a book, and waiting by that clearing she had found his ship in. At first she had been positive he would show up the second he got the message. When he didn’t, she began to worry he hadn’t gotten it. The next night, she started to wonder if he was ignoring her. Her memories of that night were a little blurry, but she did remember what happened, and what he had said. Thinking about him wanting her to leave him to his misery had cut into her deep. She was just too empathetic... sometimes.

Allura had also been thinking too much about what she had realized that night.

_“You only love Keith because it’s easy to love him.”_

Her mind had been a whirlwind. Closing the book and setting it down, she realized she would never be able to focus on anything.

The feelings she had for Keith felt childish and vapid. When she compared the passionate way Lotor declared himself to her, and with how both she and her commander treated one another...

Allura’s eyes filled with tears, and she began to wipe them away when she heard a noise. A thruster in the distance. She sniffed and was otherwise silent. It was getting louder.

Looming overhead, barley visible against the dark night sky, Lotor’s very familiar ship hovered for a moment before descending between the trees. Allura didn’t remember standing, but was aware that she was when she watched the engines shut down and heard the cockpit hatch open.

She heard footsteps in the grass. Her heart was racing, she still had time to run. She couldn’t decide if she was having second thoughts or not when she saw him emerging from the darkness under a tree.

It took him a moment to spot her, and when he started in her direction, he was surprisingly reluctant in his steps.

They both stood still, staring at one another. Allura found her voice first.

“Thank you for responding to my message. I… wasn’t sure if they would have told you, and I wanted you to know that I’m okay. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me.”

He flinched at the last part, and she wished she had thought out her words better. The way he pressed his lips together made her ramble on.

“It was my fault, I understand that. You asked me to leave and I forced myself into your presence. I’m sorry, Lotor. That’s what I wanted to tell you then, too. I didn’t… mean to… to say something that I knew would… make you upset.”

Allura was wringing her hands in front of her, and she had looked to the ground. Keeping his gaze was too much.

When she heard him move a little closer, her heart leapt in her throat. She suddenly realized what a colossally bad idea this could be. Or it was old habits making her scared, she couldn’t think.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

Her eyes snapped up. He had said it so soft.

She gave him a slight smile. “I was told you disappeared quite quickly.”

He grinned and visibly relaxed.

“Yes, they wanted me to sit in your dungeon, and I didn’t much like that idea.” He paused, looking away. “I’m not sure your commander liked that idea, either.”

She giggled. “No, he mentioned he didn’t know what to do with you, but Coran insisted since we are at war.”

He looked back at her, a small smile on his lips.

“Hmm, yes, we are, yet you sent me a message to meet you secretly. How… illicit.”

She swallowed air and looked at the ground.

“I… I wanted to also make sure you were okay… after….” Allura stopped talking when she heard him take another step closer to her. He was quite close now.

When he didn’t say anything, she hesitantly looked up at him. His head was cocked to the side, and his eyes were narrowed as if he were thinking hard about a question. She couldn’t take the silence.

“I appreciate that you… were concerned about me, with the comet. I suppose if my pilots hadn’t found me, I can take solace in knowing eventually you would have….”

Allura watched as his eyebrows twitched and she was reminded of how he looked when she found him with tears on his cheeks. Now that she was a bit used to it, she couldn’t help but smile at such an earnest display of affection.

He still hadn’t said anything, and was staring at her.

“Lotor…?”

The prince took another step forward, and slowly reached out. His attitude shift made her unsure how to react to him anymore, so she stayed still. Lotor put a finger under her chin, and lifted her face as he was leaning down toward her slowly. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she couldn’t move.

“I would find you no matter where you are, Princess Allura,” he whispered, so close she could feel his breath on her lips. “...or when.”

Her eyes were barely open, and she could scarcely breathe.

And then his finger was gone from her chin as he stepped back from her. Allura almost stumbled forward at the loss of contact, not realizing she had been standing on her toes.

She looked up at him. He was smirking.

“I don’t believe you,” she said flatly.

“What?”

“I don’t believe you would find me. You didn’t. You were here, waiting for me.”

He smirk shifted into a deep frown.

“I was barely here before your group reappeared.”

“What took you so long?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“It was… a while.”

He took a deep breath. “Allura, I wasn’t even here half a day before everything went back to the way it had been. I was a little on edge, and did start to get upset with Haggar. But things really did return the way they had been. Whatever time took place for you was before I was here… or in another pocket of time.”

Lotor was so sincere that Allura was sure he was truthful.

“Oh.”

“I was also dealing with the… court on Doom, I never thought you were just… gone. If you’d like, we can return to Doom and then you never have to worry about vanishing again.” He smirked at her and she was the one now frowning.

He tilted his head again, and seemed to be thinking about something. The silence was unnerving. He had never been so quiet around her before. When he finally did speak, she was almost startled.

“Is this all you wanted to talk about? I came an awfully far way...”

Her senses went into overdrive as she became alarmed by the way he was speaking.

“That’s… I… we couldn’t exactly have a message exchange, now could we?”

He chuckled, and it was soft and genuine. “No, probably not, but I can think of something else we can exchange.”

Allura became so tense she started to shake.

“Ahh, don’t do that, not now,” he said in such a kind and casual way she was taken aback for a second and forgot to be worried.

Lotor reached somewhere into his clothes and pulled something out. He picked up her palm and pressed her hand around it. Lifting up her hand, he kissed her fingers. He grinned at her as she looked up at him.

“Use this whenever you wish to speak to me, privately. Just something between us.”

He smirked at her as she looked at him bewildered.

“Goodnight, Princess Allura,” he said before turning on his heel and disappearing into the darkness.

Allura slowly opened her hand. It was some sort of tiny communication device. A note was attached to the back with instructions on its use. She suddenly realized how incredibly dangerous what she had done was, as she listened to his ship start up and prep to leave.

Breathing heavy, the princess stayed out in the darkness, staring at the device for a long time after he left her airspace. When she finally went home, her mind was in such turmoil she had trouble falling asleep. The device sat quietly under her pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

Lotor’s hunch had been right.

Haggar had mentioned something, and it had given him ideas. Then Cossack had made an offhand comment when his father was ranting about the princess after she was better. THAT coalesced with what Haggar had said, and gave him an idea.

At first, his own theory had annoyed him to no end, but when he really thought about it, it made some sense. When he’d been first upset, he left Allura on that balcony, and she had _followed him_. Then, spotting her waiting in that clearing after sending him a message? It was obvious she had been waiting for him. Had she gone out and hoped he had come for two days when he hadn’t shown up? That thought sent a thrill through his stomach.

He’d decided to toy with her and see what happened. Make her think he would kiss her and not following through? She was clearly thrown off balance, figuratively and literally. He had apparently latched onto an idea with her that had some basis in reality. It was something that was working. That thought sent another, stronger thrill through his stomach. Had he finally figured her out?

He’d been pacing in his bedroom, but sat down, trying to focus on thinking. He had to be careful or he could mess this up entirely. He wanted help, but he didn’t trust anyone with this information. And most importantly, he’d told _her_ that the communicator was just between them. He wasn’t about to ruin that by telling someone else.

Lotor picked up his half of the device and stared at it. The desire to contact her on it immediately was strong, but after running the timezones through his mind, he realized it was only morning on Arus. Messaging her on it now would ruin everything completely.

Setting it down, he stood up. Pacing across the room, he looked back to the device. The way the light glinted off it made him think the notification light had lit up. He ran back and grabbed it while he sat down.

No messages.

Dropping it back on the table, the prince covered his face with his hands as he threw himself backwards across his sofa, groaning loudly.

 

–

 

“I never thought I would say this, but I don’t think Lotor’s heart is in attacking us today.”

Allura wished Lance would shut up. He’d been talking nonstop the whole battle, and she was already way too stressed about this attack at all.

“Maybe he feels a little bad about what happened,” Hunk said into the com line.

“Team, focus. Please.”

Allura had never been happier in her life to hear Keith sound exasperated.

Lance was right, though. It had been a few days since her clandestine nighttime meeting with the prince, and suddenly he had showed up with ships and a robeast.

The ships were less than normal. Coran mentioned there was a few holding back, idling in orbit. The robeast itself relatively easy to dispatch. The thought that Lotor was taking risks to go easy on them was on everyone’s mind. It had been discussed a little bit, but Allura was wary of them talking about it too much. She was starting to be concerned about if he was found out by Zarkon while helping them.

_I’m worried about him again..._

The thought was alarming her.

 

–

 

Lotor’s forces had retreated. On the bridge of his flagship, he kept checking his hand. Cossack asked him if he had a token from Princess Allura in his grasp, and the scowl he gave his commander did nothing more than evoke strong laughter from the man. It made the prince leave the room.

Stalking out the door, he heard a chirp. Turning his palm, the communicator flashed up at him. Lotor ran down the corridor to his docked ship.

As it was powering up, Cossack knocked on the windshield. Lotor reluctantly cracked it open.

“Sire, do you want us to wait for you?”

“No, return home.”

Cossack narrowed his eyes at the young man.

“Sire, is there something I should be aware of?”

Lotor glared at him. “Did I ask you to be concerned with what I’m doing?”

“His Majesty will be looking for you after this… defeat. I strongly advise not _dallying_ , Your Highness.”

The prince pursed his lips at his commander, the double meaning not lost on him.

“I won’t be long.”

 

–

 

Allura paced beside the clearing.

_This was a mistake, a huge terrible mistake. I should never have-_

And there he was, slowly descending.

After the fight, she’d run to get the communicator. She didn’t feel comfortable bringing _Drule tech_ into her Lion, but his clear reluctance to really battle with them made her need to speak with him. Telling Keith she needed time to go fly and clear her head had been nerve wracking. She’d never done that right after a battle before, so she was convinced he was suspicious. Her stomach felt hollow thinking about how he had every reason to suspect her of possibly meeting with Lotor secretly.

Out of the brush, the prince sauntered towards her. The arrogance in his step, even after the lost battle? It was clear he felt like he had won _something_.

She wanted to bite her lip, but tried to remain as stoic as possible.

“Princess Allura, you requested my presence?”

She frowned at him.

“Why are you attacking Arus again?”

Allura felt a mixture of smugness and concern at watching the confidence fall apart across his face.

“I don’t have a choice.”

“How do you not have a choice?”

“Allura, I believe I told you I am not longer king. I answer to my father, and he has demanded I take action. Disobeying him would have… consequences. Beyond what happens to me, you do not want him leading the invasion again. He won’t fail.”

Her mouth went dry.

“Oh. I guess I thought you maybe… had a bit more sway…?”

Lotor frowned at her.

“I regret to inform you that I don’t have as much power as a mere prince that you assume I do.” His voice was very bitter.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend.”

His eyes narrowed at her words, and he moved quickly towards her. She instinctively backed up.

“I’m not offended by _that_ , Princess Allura.”

He kept moving closer to her.

She nearly screamed when he put his hands around her waist and lifted her. At the same instant, she felt herself pressed between a tree and his muscular body. She barely even noticed she had put her arms on his shoulders to hold herself steady.

“What are you doing,” she hissed at him, trying to squirm but not wanting to move much since he had pushed himself between her legs.

“Has he ever held you like this?”

“What?”

Lotor leaned down and pushed his nose against her throat, slowly moving across her skin.

“Has your _commander_ ever been between your legs, Allura?”

“That is none of your business,” she spat out.

“Hmm, how can I be content leaving you to him if he won’t even take care of you?”

“Let me go or I will scream.”

He chuckled. “Hmm, we both know we’re too far from your castle. If they didn’t hear my ship, they won’t hear you.”

“This is why I never talk to you. There’s is no talking to you. You’re impossible to deal with.”

For a second she was worried she went to far. It was a dangerous gamble. He leaned back and looked down at her.

“Is it wrong that I want the woman I love to be taken care of? To be _pleasured_?” He purred out the last part, and she swallowed, keeping his eye.

“My pleasures are not your concern, Lotor.”

“Are they not, though?” he whispered as he leaned down to kiss her cheek.

She was becoming increasingly disturbed that while he was being a bit forceful, he was still being much more tender than Keith ever had attempted. It also began to anger her that she had a nagging thought that Lotor was right. Did Keith even actually love her? Would he claim to love her if she wasn’t the princess of the planet he had sworn to protect?

Too distracted by her thoughts, she missed Lotor beginning to kiss across her face. When his lips brushed the corner of her mouth, she was brought back to reality. Her senses were still heightened, and a dangerous feeling was filling her stomach. _What if I don’t fight him on this? I could experi-_

Her thoughts were interrupted as he pressed his lips to hers. She froze. He pulled back slightly and then did it again. Allura kissed back, this time.

After a few moments, Lotor tilted his head a little and pushed her lips apart. She didn’t fight him, the sensation was too new and interesting, and her curiosity was overcoming her better judgment. Slowly, his tongue found hers, and he touched her with a gentleness she would never have expected from him. It spurred her to respond by gently licking back.

Ten mostly quiet minutes went by as Allura learned how to kiss.

When Lotor finally pulled back from her, she felt breathless in a way she had never felt before. She started to feel a little guilt, but when he leaned down and tenderly kissed her neck, she forgot what she had been thinking.

“I love you, my sweet Princess of Arus.” She blinked, staring out into the sky under the blooming sunset. How should she respond to that?

He peppered kisses back up her jaw, and pushed open her lips once more. Shifting the way he held her, she was suddenly very aware of him pressing himself against her in a very intimate way. She was conscious of what it was doing to her, but the realization that he was affected too was not something she had been thinking about at all. It was both terrifying and exciting. He had been right, anything between them was positively illicit.

Lotor’s teeth pulled at her ear, and she let out a small moan. He made a throaty groan in response and let go of her ear, his breath against the wet lobe giving her shivers.

“How can you say he loves you when he’s never made you come?”

“Th-that’s not what love is, Lotor. I don’t think you even know what you’re talking about.”

“Then what is it,” he whispered as he kept nipping at her ear, “when my heart flutters at the sight of your Lion and the thought of talking to you? What is it when my heart aches to see you? When all I want to do is keep you hidden away in my bedroom and make love to you for hours upon hours, then make you giggle over little nothings as you relax, tangled in my arms in your afterglow of pleasure?”

She swallowed hard. Nobody had ever talked to her like this, it made her feel like she hadn’t even been… alive.

“I...I… I don’t think...”

“I risked my crown and I lost it, all because I was frantic to try and find out what happened to you. How much would _he_ risk?”

She couldn’t answer that. Keith always had his Lion and the support of the other pilots.

Lotor didn’t wait for any reply. His hands left her waist and gripped at her hips. He kissed her neck and began to gyrate against her. Moving her legs, she wrapped them around him so she wouldn’t fall. A small noise came from his throat at the action, and he pushed against her a little rougher. The angle now meant every thrust against her gave her a spark of pleasure, and she felt her face grow hot.

He kept going. It didn’t take long before Allura began to dig her fingers into his shoulders as her body overheated and a wave of bliss was coursing through her at every push. Unconsciously, her hips began to match his movements. She didn’t even realize she was breathing heavy into his ear until he spoke.

“Do you like this, Allura?”

She didn’t want to answer.

“Do you?”

“Yes,” she barely managed to breathe out. He made a pleased humming sound and pushed against her in a slower motion. That was the end of it. She moaned against his ear as she orgasmed, clutching at his shoulders so she didn’t feel like she would dissolve into a puddle.

As soon as her release finished, guilt flooded through her to take its place. She was hidden in the trees near the castle, Lotor pressing against her and bringing her to a climax. The feeling of her wet panties between where he pressed his hardness against her made her shame tenfold. Her eyes were filling with tears. She should never have called him.

“Please, put me down. I… I need to leave.”

He lifted his head to look down at her, and his expression went dark.

“What?”

“I… this was a mistake, I’m sorry I need to leave. Please, let me go.”

He blinked at her as if he couldn’t understand the words she was using. After a moment he did as she asked, gently setting her down and backed away slightly.

“Allura-”

“I’m sorry, Lotor, I should not have called you. Please, forget this happened.”

She pulled the communicator he had given her out of her pocket and pushed it into his chest. He instinctively grabbed it. Allura turned and ran.

Lotor looked down into his hand at the device. His lip trembled in anger and sudden heartache. Yelling, he threw it at the tree, the screen cracking as it bounced into the bushes.

When Allura heard his rage far behind her, she ran faster, barely able to see where she was going through the tears.


	4. Chapter 4

An entire week went by before the worst happened. A Doom fleet showed up. A very large fleet. And the largest robeast they had ever seen. It was almost three times the size of Voltron. Instead of just attacking, Lotor gave Arus an ultimatum.

<<Surrender Voltron and I won’t obliterate the castle. You’ll even be given special treatment, not death and not the coliseum.>>

Allura wanted to cry. Lotor had said it flatly, entirely devoid of emotion, and he looked exhausted. There were dark circles under his eyes and he was scowling. Even through the screen, she could tell he refused to look at her.

“If you think we’re going to do that, you really don’t know us very well, _Prince_ Lotor,” Keith spat out.

<<Then all of you will perish!>>

The line cut out after he yelled, and after blinking at the screen, they all ran for the Lions. Allura had to wipe the tears from her face repeatedly on the way to Blue Lion, and even after she was launched.

The battle was hard won. They’d barely managed to take down the robeast, and it seemed like only sheer luck that they actually did. Lotor hadn’t contacted her like he normally would in a battle. He said absolutely nothing at all after he had hailed the castle. It was like he wasn’t even there, the silence from him was acute.

After Voltron tied the legs of the robeast together and sliced it in half with the Blazing Sword, the remaining Doom fighter ships all retreated. Lotor’s small black craft had been the first to leave. Allura’s heart ached.

 

–

 

The princess took a long, hot bath. And cried. She couldn’t stop thinking about how awful Lotor looked. It was obvious how much she had hurt him. Or maybe something had happened on Doom, she couldn’t be sure… but she could still hear the way he had yelled in the clearing when she ran from him, and the crack of the communicator as she heard it hit something. He had been furious, and only moments after he had been so gentle and pleasing.

Sighing into the tub, she thought back on the whole week. She’d been paying attention to the way Keith was around her, and while he was nice, that was about it. When she had locked herself in her room for a few days, he hadn’t even come to see her to see if she was okay. Shouldn’t a lover do that? Make an effort?

Her eyes went wide. Lotor had done that. Even when it was obvious they had very much returned for good, he had still come to talk to her directly. Was it for his own piece of mind? Was it to actively make sure she was alright? Did the reasonings matter much? Probably not.

The more Allura thought about it, the more she realized she had ended up toying with the prince, whether intentional or not. He’d been intent on making her feel things nobody else ever had. He wasn’t treating her like an object, at least not any more. He’d focused on what she wanted and… her eyes went wide.

_He probably really does love me..._

The realization made her heart hurt, but also gave her a burst of energy. She had to try and contact him again. She _had_ to reciprocate his effort. The thought he actually, truly cared for her was a thrilling one. And it made her realize, maybe she did like him, even just a little? She certainly wouldn’t have let someone touch her in the ways he had if she wasn’t at the very least attracted to them.

As her face flushed, she finished her bath and redressed. She absolutely could not leave this situation the way it was.

 

–

 

Allura nearly ran back to the clearing. Given the Doom attitude of just leaving whatever they sent to Arus after they were defeated, she was positive the device was still somewhere in the underbrush. It hadn’t rained all week, it was probably okay… if it hadn’t shattered. She idly wondered if there was a way to have it fixed by someone without it coming out what it was…

The flashlight started shaking in her hand with her stress. She had no idea how long it had been with her looking out in the darkened night sky. It had been quite a while, and she was still so tired from the battle.

“Come on.. I know you’re here somewhere. There’s no way he took you back...”

She sighed, and got down on her knees to look under a thick bush. Waving the flashlight around, she saw a glinting.

“Yes! Ahh, finally.”

Half crawling under to grab it, Allura felt herself slowly relaxing a little, but at the same time anxiety spiked. If it didn’t work…

She grabbed it and sat up. Brushing the dirt off the communicator, the princess frowned at the screen. There was a Y shaped crack across it, and a small chip of glass was missing. She pressed the buttons and nothing happened.

“No… please. I really need you to work.”

Trying to remember the reboot code for the power buttons, Allura tried a few times. She squealed a little when the screen lit up as it reset itself. She pressed it against her forehead and closed her eyes.

“Thank you...”

After a few moments, it was on. Now was the moment of truth. With shaking fingers, she typed into it.

<<I’m sorry>>

The message sent, and she watched as it changed color, indicating it made it to the other instrument. It still worked.

Minutes went by, but nothing came back. She tried to relax. Maybe he was busy, or asleep. Maybe he had been punished for not defeating them…

She started typing on it again

<<Please, talk to me>>

She bit her lip, then the device beeped.

>>No<<

Her heart sank and her vision blurred.

<<Please, I’ve wronged you>>

Another minute went by as she clutched the device to her chest, a few tears slipping down her cheeks. She began to rub them off her face when she heard a twig snap on the other side of the small clearing. Clumsily jumping to her feet, she peered in the direction of the noise. There were footsteps in the underbrush, and a figure stepped out into the dim evening light. It was Lotor.

Allura tried to keep herself from sobbing as he slowly walked towards her. The prince looked tired. He still had the dark circles under his eyes, and he was wearing what she always saw him in. There was smudges of soot on his sleeve, and it reminded her that Lance had managed to land a shot on his ship and it had sparked quite a bit.

When he was closer, she smiled in what was a sad smile. His eyebrows were pinched. He peered down at her, frowning.

“I’m sorry, Lotor. I… was wrong to run from you. I…,” she had to look to the ground to not lose her nerve. “I was scared because I… because I liked how you touched me and.. I like you far more than I should.”

She glanced back up. Lotor’s eyes had gone wide. She stepped closer to him, and after pocketing the device, reached out to take his gloved hands. He hadn’t moved at all.

“It was rude and inconsiderate of me to just run from you. And after you had just confessed your feelings. I just… it’s been a lot to take in, I know that’s no excuse, but that’s why I panicked. You’ve been so very….”

She looked up at him. He was breathing slowly. She kept rambling.

“I like you when you’re not chasing me and being unreasonable to others. I think perhaps if we were to talk more, maybe we could come to some sort of understanding with one another. Your messaging device is a good idea, but… in person is much better. Would you like to start that, Lotor? Actual discussions, I mean.”

She watched as his ears twitched. It was not something she had ever seen from him before, and she bit her tongue to keep from laughing.

“Lotor?”

“Yes, I would like that,” he said low and hesitantly.

She smiled. “Perhaps then, you would also like to… sneak into the castle with me?” She watched as his eyes widened again. “It’s going to get chilly and I believe we are both still tired from… today’s activities.”

Without waiting for an answer, she let go of one of his hands, and led him back towards the castle by the other. When she squeezed after a few moments of walking, he squeezed back, but she kept her eyes forward.

 

–

 

Lotor couldn’t believe his luck. He didn’t think she would actually show up, and then he had watched her silently as she searched around. At first he couldn’t understand what she was doing, but then when she found the communicator, he scrambled to turn his onto silent. His heart leapt when she messaged him on it. His hand had been shaking as he read her words, completely in disbelief this was even occurring.

Even though he was thrilled, he was still rather upset, and he didn’t trust himself around her like this. But when she started begging for him to talk to her… he hadn’t been able to stop himself from walking closer. What could he possibly say? He was still hurt, for sure, but to see her sitting there, fretting and beginning to cry over his lack of response… he couldn’t stop his impetuous nature.

They were nearly back to the castle, and he was starting to wonder how in the blazes _she_ was planning to sneak him in like this. They couldn’t go across the drawbridge, and he doubted she swam across. There was a hundred ways he could get himself in, but none of them seemed her style. He didn’t ask, just silently followed as he soaked up the feeling of her hand in his, having to lean over a little just to hold onto her.

Allura led them far from the front of the castle. They were at one of the narrower parts of the water, but that wasn’t saying too much with how wide the moat was. She slowly let go of his hand, and he reluctantly let her fingers slip out of his.

She turned and beamed up at him. He was confused. She grinned wider. Turning on her heel, Allura walked straight at the water, between two flower bushes on the edge. He was about to say something but his mouth dropped open in silence as she walked straight out onto the surface. She turned around again, still smiling.

“There’s a small retractable bridge here, but don’t think of using it on your own, only I have the code.”

He chuckled. “So this is how you get out of the castle with none of your staff knowing.”

“It is. Come, we need to hurry so nobody spots us.”

He didn’t even hesitate to follow her, rushing as quietly as possible so as to not create loud splashes on the thin layer of water on the surface. When they both reached the other side and passed between two more plants, Allura reached up to the side of the castle. Pressing her palm, a latched covering flipped open, revealing a set of buttons. She tapped onto it, and there was a soft whirling noise. Tapping again, a new code made a doorway appear and open. Pulling him inside, she closed it.

The space was barely illuminated by small, pale blue lights on the floor. They receded up a staircase. He could somewhat see her grinning at him.

“Only the royal family knows of this passage. And now you, I suppose.”

“You should not be showing me this, Allura.”

He could still tell she was smiling.

“It’s fine. I’m making a conscious decision to trust you. You already proved yourself to me.”

He frowned but had no idea if she could even see it. “I don’t believe bringing you back here when you were injured really proves much. I did nearly take Voltron out today, if you recall, my dear princess.”

“I do, but I _also_ recall you telling me you don’t have much of a choice on the matter.”

Before Lotor’s thoughts could catch up, she had grabbed his hand and pulled him up the stairs behind her. They were closer to the lights now, and she was elevated by being a few steps above him as she walked. The sway of her hips as she took each steep step in the low light was memorizing, and he found himself beginning to grip her hand tighter to try and focus.

He breathed out a sigh of relief when they finally reached the top and she let go of him to open another door. It was a long hallway, similarly lit. He continued to follow her as she walked.

Allura turned to look at him as they reached a keypad in the wall.

“Remember, you can’t be too loud, okay? This would be disastrous if we’re found out.”

He smirked and nodded. The illicit nature of their meetings was becoming rather… enticing.

The princess opened the door, and stepped through into the light on the other side. Lotor followed her. It was her closet. Dresses and clothes hung neatly everywhere. He spied what he thought was a pair of panties on the floor, and catalogued that memory for later.

The door slid shut behind him. She had turned to enter her main chamber, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back as she moved. Spinning them both, Lotor pushed Allura’s back into a rack of gowns and leaned down.

“Nobody even knows we’re here, and that I’m with you,” he whispered before he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

He could hear her breath on his ear. She was struggling for words, and he grinned before she finally found them.

“Y-yes, are you going to behave yourself?”

He hummed out a laugh, and kissed her jaw before answering against her ear.

“I’ll be as naughty as you want, Allura.”

He tried not to chuckle when she let out a breath against his cheek in response. She moved her hands and touched along his sides before gripping the fabric at his waist. Leaning back, he looked down at her. In the brighter light, he could see the way her cheeks were turning pink. It took all his energy to not groan in delight at her blushing under his touch.

Lotor continued to watch her, and stared at her lips when she darted her little tongue out to lick them. He didn’t even try and control himself anymore at that moment. He was quick to lean in and press his lips against hers, chasing after that little pink tongue with his own, back into her hot, wet mouth.

She’d learned kissing quickly before, and had remembered her lessons. Allura’s responses to his motions were well timed and meshed well. The princess kissed him back like they had been practicing together for years.

He groaned, and as he went to press his knee between hers, stopped himself. Why should they do this in her closet when she had a perfectly good bed in the other room? Lotor broke the kiss and pulled himself back. Her cheeks were even darker. Before he could gather his jumbled thoughts, she spoke.

“Lotor… we… I mean… this isn’t talking.”

He laughed.

“Lotor! You’re being too loud.”

He shut his mouth and brought a hand up to hold her chin.

“I apologize, please don’t kick me out, not when I’ve yet to be in your bed.”

Her eyes went wide, and his grin did, too.

“Please…,” she whispered in a pleading tone.

He gave her a quick peck on the lips, and then leaned down and threw her over his shoulder. She gasped loudly, before hissing a demand to be let down.

“Not happening, Princess.”

“But…!”

He laughed as he took her through the closet door, hand resting on her plump bottom. Another thing to catalogue for later.

Allura was quiet as he walked them across her room, but once they neared her bed, she couldn’t be silent any longer.

“Please put me down, and not on my bed. You’re being… unreasonable again.”

He frowned. Patting her butt once, eliciting a gasp from her again, he chucked softly. Then he slid her down so she could stand. She immediately smacked his arm.

“Do not do that again.”

He grinned. He would absolutely do it again.

Without another word, he walked over to her bed and flopped himself down on top of it, legs spread and boots hanging over the edge on either side. Allura frowned at him.

“I have a perfectly good sofa over there, Lotor.”

“Mmm, I imagine you do, but I prefer to be right where I am.”

She frowned. “Alright, I suppose… let me check the surveillance for the castle, just to be sure. If they know you’re here, it could be a big problem.”

Allura turned and went to the computer system hooked up to her desk. He idly wondered if she should be checking his ship, too, as he watched her begin typing.

 

–

 

After a few minutes of silence, she looked over to Lotor. She expected him to be watching her, but his eyes were closed as he lay on her bed, his feet still dangling off the edges. One of his arms was draped across his chest. The other was stretched out, palm up and relaxed. Allura watched him for a few moments, and it was clear what was going on; he had fallen asleep.

As quietly as possible, she stood from her desk and tiptoed over to him. He still look exhausted, and his breathing was even and slow. As delicately as possible, the princess sat down next to him on the bed. She reached out and caressed his cheek. There was no response. Running her fingertips down the side of his face, and then along his jaw, he still didn’t respond. It was quite strange considering how lively he had just been mere minutes before.

Some of his hair had fallen over his shoulder, and she gently pushed it off before touching the rest of his locks. It was silky and soft. She tangled her fingers in it, relishing the feeling, and making a mental note to do that again when he was awake. Lotor would probably appreciate her paying attention to him, and something he clearly put effort into.

Allura bit her lip. The fact he was able to completely pass out in her bed, the bed of the leader of the opposition he had very angrily fought hard against just hours previous, was nothing short of astounding. She’d heard him be called an idiot, and she briefly considered that as the reason, but she didn’t think that was it. It seemed more that he trusted her, felt safe with her, and wanted to be with her when he was vulnerable. She felt guilty at how she had treated him just a week prior.

Trying to clear her mind, Allura realized just how exhausted she also was. It wouldn’t make much of a difference if she laid down for a bit. Since the prince was on top of her bedding, she shimmied under the covers, and snuggled next to him. Just a nap wouldn’t hurt…

 

–

 

Lotor hadn’t felt so calm in a long, long time. Nor rested. He went to stretch his arms, but one was being held down under a warm and soft body. The girls in his harem didn’t usually stay, he never liked that since any one could be secretly working for his father. In the dark room, he tried to shift, but realized the girl was also using his shoulder for a pillow... and his hair was tangled under both of them, offering little room to move. Reaching over, he touched her soft head, and started to move his hand along her tresses.

_Braid._

In an instant, the entire evening returned to his memories. He took a deep breath, eyes going wide and finally taking in the room where he was and who he was with.

_Allura._

She made a small noise of irritation from his touch, and he thrilled at the sound. He was positive his heartbeat was so loud it was going to wake her up completely. Playing with the curls around her face, he tried to stay calm at the greatest way he had woken up in his entire life. Allura made the sound again.

“Wake up, dearest,” he whispered. Her eyes shot open.

“What...” Alarm filled her eyes for a moment before she visibly relaxed. Then she smiled at him. “How do you feel, Lotor?”

He grinned. “Waking up with you snuggled into my side has cured me of all possible ailments and exhaustion.”

Lotor watched with fascination as she giggled. His hand was still in her hair, and he slid a finger down along her jaw. Pushing her face up by the tip of her chin, he leaned over towards her. Their lips touching was the softest feeling he had ever felt. Her reciprocation of his kiss was a balm to his very core.


	5. Chapter 5

Allura pulled back from kissing Lotor. He was beaming at her, a look that she had rarely, if ever, seen on his face. His fingers were still tangled in her hair, holding her close to him. It seemed so strange to be so relaxed with him in her bed. They were still fully clothed, minus him having just discarded his gloves. They had only napped after she had snuck him into her rooms in the castle, but this was still highly improper. He was still their enemy.

She was unsure what to even do. The feelings she felt for him were fresh and strange. He had touched her in ways no other man had… and by how Keith had treated her, probably never would. It made her heart ache to think about how she was betraying him, but she wondered if he would even actually care.

_Maybe he only would because it’s Lotor…_

It was a sobering thought, and made her worried and apprehensive. She hadn’t realized she was even showing what she was thinking on her face, but she must have been. The prince moved his hand from her tresses and touched the side of her face in a gentleness she still could not fathom was coming from him.

“Everything will be fine, my sweet.”

She frowned harder. He could not possibly guarantee that, not when they shouldn’t even be meeting like this.

“You do not know that, Lotor.”

“I do. You might have noticed I can be rather determined to reach my goals, and making you smile has long been one of them.”

“Smile!” she said far louder than she probably should have. With her own hands, she reached up and grabbed his cheeks, pulling them slightly. “I would have smiled a great deal if you had not been attacking me.”

“We already spoke about this….” His look of dejection sent a pang of regret through her.

“I… I know but… you could always have given up on me, let me make my own choices….”

“If I had done that, I would not be here with you now. Would you have preferred that?”

Allura gaze moved down to stare at the collar of his shirt. Her mind flittered to the exceedingly bland conversations she had been having with Keith. The thought of _that_ being her future made her suddenly start to feel far more trapped than she ever had with Lotor trying to whisk her away to Doom.

“I... I suppose not. You wouldn’t be here with me right now if I didn’t want you to be.”

Without even looking at him, she could see and feel him start to grin again, wider than before.

“Lotor, if I hadn’t come back, would you have truly come looking for me?”

His expression faltered and he looked concerned.

“You doubt that I would?”

“I-I just….”

“I would search the stars into infinity if you disappeared again. I was ready to. You can even ask Haggar if you don’t believe me. Well, she might not remember, I’m not really sure, but she knows that I would never stop searching for you or trying to get into your good graces.”

He was looking at her with a softness that she could only describe as something she had read about in storybooks, never one anyone had looked at her with in a long time, if ever. Keith never had. It was so very amazing how readable Lotor’s expressions were. It was also very dangerous for a ruler and a commander.

Lotor leaned towards her and brushed his lips against her forehead. “I gave up a crown for you, Allura. Going to look for you is a mere shadow of an effort compared.”

Allura had forgotten that fact already, and it made her feel ashamed she had. He most likely never would.

“Lotor. Thank you,” she said softly and he blinked at her in obvious confusion. “Thank you for risking what you clearly have always wanted… for me. Nobody has ever done something like that before.” She sighed and looked down again. “In fact, everyone usually makes me do what they want, like a puppet.”

She glanced up at him. He was frowning, and as odd as it made his face look with her hands still squishing his cheeks, it was still very… telling.

“Allura. You followed and looked for me by my ship when you had no reason to, and tried to comfort me. You had every reason to not do that and it was just… it-it made my heart feel things I never had. I…,” she watched him swallow and blink a few times, keeping his gaze. “I feel as though I have to make another big decision, and the way you put in effort towards me, and how you reacted under my touch makes me not doubt what my choice will be.”

Her heart fluttered. His meaning on some choice could be a million things, but him declaring that no matter what, he would always side with and pick her was astounding and endearing. That he was even admitting to his extreme emotions… it was then that Allura realized that no, he wasn’t being out of character, he really did always do everything in a hyper emotional manner. She was so used to the cold behavior from everyone else, that Lotor wearing his heart on his sleeve and declaring himself so bluntly was nearly shocking in its difference. She bit her lip and watched as he looked at her mouth. It was time to stop being wishywashy with him.

“I appreciate your honesty. It makes me realize I have not reciprocated that with you, Lotor.” He gave her a small grin, but the apprehension in his countenance was obvious. “I… you might have noticed I am being a bit… well, I am allowing you here in there first place.” She watched as a smile grew across his face. “I don’t entirely understand my own feelings, please keep that in mind… but I have realized that perhaps I had been doing too much of what was expected of me, and, well….”

She glanced up at him, and he looked as if he had won a big prize. He must have felt as though he had won a great victory… against Keith. The guilt coursed through her and she lowered her hands off his face finally, and slid them down his neck. She looked away, unable to keep his intense gaze.

Lotor whispered her name, but she couldn’t face him. He touched her chin with his thumb, but she wouldn’t look. He leaned toward her and she felt his breath on her cheek before he spoke low.

“If all you need is time, I can do my best to be patient.”

“It’s... that’s… it doesn’t work that way when you could be forced to attack me again, Lotor. I don’t know what to do, there is no clear answer.”

“Accept me.”

Allura pulled her head back to finally look at him. “You know I cannot.”

He frowned hard, but seemed to think for a moment.

“We’ll leave.”

“What?”

He leaned against her cheek again. “Run away with me. I have enough gold, you don’t need to worry about anything ever again.”

She couldn’t believe he was even suggesting this. “Lotor, we can’t leave. We _both_ have obligations. I… I will not leave Arus to be taken and my people harmed.”

Leaning back again, Lotor took her hand from his neck, and kissed her fingers. “Then accept me formally. The invasion from Doom ends the instant you decide for me.”

“Lotor….”

“Once I am king you can do anything you like. I would assume you would still allow me into your bed, but you don’t have to be on Doom. I rather like this cute bedroom of yours.”

“You are no longer a king,” she said frowning.

“I will protect you, I swear it. Whatever you want, I will make it happen.”

“While I appreciate your declaration, we both know your father would never allow it.”

“He knows when it comes to you, that I am quite determined. I _will_ make it work, Allura.”

She wanted to believe him, but it was so hard to trust knowing how much deceit and betrayals he had committed. When he kissed her cheek and moved to kiss her neck, she started to lose a little of the distrust that had been reforming. She had already allowed him in her castle, and to know her secret entrance…

Lotor’s hand moved to the back of her head and he kissed her, softly and quite deeply. She was left breathless when he pulled back, his hand sliding down her neck, across her shoulder, and then down her back to pull her tighter against him.

The prince was looking down at her, his eyes half closed and his gaze hazy. She swore there was a dusting of a blush on his cheeks.

_He looks like a man completely besotted._

Her heart was fluttering at that thought. Reaching up, Allura ran a finger down the side of his ear and watched as he closed his eyes like a pleased cat. Leaning forward, she gave him a soft kiss on the lips, and she could feel him smile into it.

Without much warning, Lotor’s hand gripped her hip, and she felt a surge of lust at the action. Pushing her nose under his chin, she started to kiss his neck. She flushed when he made a groan of approval deep in his chest.

His grip lessened, and he moved his fingers across the top of her thigh, and pushed under the fabric of her pants. She stilled at the action. He was being bolder than he had before.

“Is this okay?” he whispered against her forehead.

“Y-yes.”

Allura felt him take a deep breath in, and his hand moved down. A rush of wanton feeling flowed through her when she felt him touch the top of her panties and push beneath them. Allura unconsciously lifted her leg and rested it on top of his, and his fingers went between her legs.

She could feel herself _burning_ for his touch, and when it happened her whole body heated more. His fingers moved across her and she felt herself clench her muscles in response. A finger went farther down, and she realized just how much his kisses had affected her. He moved it around a bit before back up.

Her grip in his neck increased as he flicked his finger around. What they had done against that tree paled in comparison to what he was doing now. He leaned over to kiss her as he moved another finger with the first, sliding across her at a quick pace. It only took a moment before her responses so his lips ceased, and she was breathing hard against him. He made a humming noise as she felt a warm and growing need for him to keep doing that without stopping.

And then he did stop. Her eyes she hadn’t even realized had been closed fluttered open. He was grinning down at her. She frowned at him, but he grinned more.

When he moved and pulled her pants over her hips, she took in a scared breath.

“What...”

“I want to feel you more,” he murmured against her cheek as he leaned down again. Kissing her ear and down her neck, she felt him push her pants below her knees. When she heard his belt being undone, alarm filled her and she pushed at him to lean back.

Lotor looked down at her with a soft expression. His hand left his pants and he ran his smallest finger along her cheek. She swallowed as she realized she could smell herself on his hand.

“I’m not going to… Allura, I just want to press against you, like before. But I want to avoid soiling my pants. It’s hard to hide that.”

She didn’t think her blush could increase, but her face inflamed at his words and the meaning. He didn’t want _her_ to soil his pants.

“If-if that’s all...”

“Yes. If you want more, all you have to do is ask.”

She couldn’t look him in the eye for more than a second. He was still smiling gently. Allura relaxed her arms and pulled him against her. A thrill went up her stomach at the thought of the closeness again.

“What you suggested is fine. Like before.”

Lotor nuzzled into her neck as he shifted and leaned onto her. He pressed himself between her legs, and she relaxed them. His hardness against her made her breathing shallow, the insinuations of what they could easily do sharp in her mind, but he didn’t do anything beyond what he said. The cloth under his pants and her thin panties kept them both in check.

And then he pushed his hips against her. She gasped slightly against his ear as she could feel him pushing her apart even through the undergarments between them. He made a soft moan in response, and repeated the action. This time, the pressure of his long shaft rubbed against where he just had been with his fingers, and where she was still so very needy.

Allura dug her fingernails into his shoulders and pulled him flush against her. That was all the encouragement he needed, and he grabbed at her thighs to push them more apart, thrusting himself against her with more force than was necessary. With all the previous touching, she was completely lost to the sensation until he whispered into her ear.

“You are so wet you’ve soaked through everything already.”

She bit her lip. His voice had been rough, and the amount of need in it encouraged her desire to blossom. Without thought, she tried to mimic his movements against her as she reached down to grasp at his butt.

He groaned in response. Leaning back slightly, his eyes still hazy with lust, he kissed her just as she felt herself lost to the throes of her release. She felt his fingers dig into her thighs as he stilled his tongue on hers. Without notice, she felt him throb against her, the space above her panties where he touched her becoming sticky against her skin.

Lotor’s grip on her loosened, and he placed a hand next to her on the bed. He leaned back, and looked down at her with the softest expression she had ever seen on his face. Allura took her hand off his shoulder and cupped his cheek. He leaned into it, closing his eyes. With him like that, she couldn’t help but kiss him.

They stayed like that for several moments, oblivious to their situations in life, forgetting everything. Allura’s mind briefly thought back to Keith, and she realized she was beyond a doubt changed forever. She couldn’t do what was expected of her, not anymore.

The mood was broken with a chirp at her door, signaling someone requesting entry. Allura was immediately alarmed. It was still so very early. Someone trying to speak to her meant there was an emergency. She pushed at Lotor and he leaned back.

“Quick, you have to hide. Grab all your stuff, _please_.”

He frowned at her but stood and pulled his pants up. She did the same, and in seconds was ushering him into her closet.

“Please, stay here until I figure it out.”

He started to protest, but she closed the door and ran back to her main one. Opening it, she was alarmed to find Keith and Lance, with multiple guards, on the other side of her door. Her pilots ran into her room and looked around.

“Princess! Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, what’s going on?”

“King Zarkon has hailed the castle, demanding his son. Lotor never returned from their last attack, and they traced his ship. It’s not far from the castle. He thinks we’ve captured him, and is threatening a larger attack immediately if we don’t return the prince. Is he stalking around here?”

Allura’s heart sank. She didn’t know what to do. There was no way for her to get Lotor out of the castle now without them knowing. She hadn’t told the prince the code, so there was no way he could get into the hidden passageways himself.

“I… I, uh… let me talk to Zarkon, if Lotor is around it’s best if I’m in Command anyway, right?”

She moved towards the door, but her heart nearly stopped when she heard Lance speak low.

“Keith… it smells like sex in here.”


	6. Chapter 6

As soon as the door shut behind Allura, Lotor was frowning. She had pulled on it to close it faster. He assumed she was stressing out, and if he couldn’t alleviate her problems, what good was he, then?

He sighed and looked around. Those panties were still on the ground and he briefly considered swiping them. The moment he had the thought, he was instantly annoyed with himself. He had just been between her legs, his fingers even still smelled like her. What would be the point of stealing that tiny bit of fabric?

Minutes went by, and he heard nothing. Pushing his ear against the door, he could hear her speaking sternly. Even with his drule ears it wasn’t clear, but he absolutely heard one of her pilots talking about him, and in a nasty manner. Then the main door closed, and there was more talking, but it was too muffled.

Lotor frowned hard. More time went by without anything happening. He couldn’t decide if he should break out of the closet or maybe jump through the window.

_Shit, can I even get out of here without a fight?_

He looked around again. The entrance from the hidden passage was disguised as a support wall with some little picture hanging on it. Pressing on it, he followed logic on where the keypad would be based on how he saw the outside one. The panel slid away, and he thought hard about what she had tapped into it on the other side. Hopefully it would be the same.

Punching in a few codes, he frowned at it flashing at him in rejection. His anxiety spiked when he heard movement from the main chamber towards the closet. Quickly trying a few more combinations, he nearly yelled when it slid open after the third. Lotor ran through into the passage when there were footfalls right outside. He shut the door to the passage quickly and silently. Leaning his ear on the door, he listened as the main closet door slid open.

“Allura....”

“Well, I guess he left without me knowing. You know how he is!”

She had told her commander he was here. That was bad news. He had to leave fast... or did he need to protect her? What had she told him? It had been at least ten minutes since she had shoved him in there.

“We need to find him to get Zarkon off our back.”

“I can’t believe he actually hailed the castle, demanding Lotor....”

Damn him! This was his father’s doing?

He heard her commander speak, but it was so low he couldn’t make out the words. She started to say something else, but they were walking back into the main room. Hearing the door to her closet shut, he considered staying. But he knew they would eventually find him if he did, and it was just bad news if his father was even contacting them. He was now in a world of shit with the old man, but he just couldn’t bring himself to care anymore. Not after having been free from his tyranny and a ruler himself.

Making his way down the dimly lit staircase, he couldn’t stop sighing. He did _not_ want to deal with anything on Doom. He wanted to stay. This was not how he wanted to part with Allura.

His mind went back to her chasing him weeks before.

“ _...it’s probably not wise for us to leave off where we did.”_

It wasn’t exactly the same, but he didn’t know where he stood with her. Allura had invited _him_ into her room and she had fallen asleep in his arms. But then she had denied him when he asked her to accept him.

Lotor stopped midstep. She had _originally_ denied him, but then when he asked again, she... had only said how his father would never let Arus be...

He leaned against the wall, gripping the small railing. _She hadn’t said no._ After the declaration he made that he would make it work no matter what, they had started kissing. And then she let him touch her and take her pants off and rub them both into a heady lust. That was very nearly an acceptance... wasn’t it? She laid out her concerns, and he addressed them, and then... princesses generally did not let invading princes get between their legs, letting him get himself so worked up he comes in his pants after begging her to be his wife. And then kissing him again.

He growled in the staircase, the sound echoing. His father had ruined everything, _again_. They had been enjoying one another’s company in the afterglow of their pleasure and he was sure it would have come up once more. Maybe she would have accepted his hand. But she never got the chance because that stupid old tyrant had contacted them to look for him. Why was his father suddenly caring where he was?

Sighing, Lotor kept going down the stairs. This was going to all come to a head, and probably today. He sighed again when he reached the door at the bottom, staring at it for a few moments to try and gather his courage and a willingness to leave Allura. Flicking open the keypad panel, he typed in the code he had now committed to memory, and the door slid open into a budding dawn. It was light enough that he could see into the distance. Right where he was sure his ship was, he saw one of those Lions... the yellow one.

As Lotor’s face pinched into a deep frown as the sun crested the mountains. The light hit the treeline, and gleamed off the side of the mecha and the windshield of his ship. It was a bright notification that without a doubt the thing loomed over his craft, sealing his fate.

Lotor groaned.

He stayed like that for a solid minute, wondering what the hell he was going to do. The _one tim_ e they were actually being diligent about security. If he was already inside his ship he would have a difficult time getting away from under that big Lion, let alone getting himself to his ship in the first place. They could just step on him and it would all be over.

The prince’s mind wondered over what he would have to do to even hope to accomplish that task. First, he doubted the code would be the same for that little bridge, so he would have to swim the moat. Then he would have to run, in the bright morning light, across the field, for at least 300 paces. There’s no way they wouldn’t spot him when they were looking for him. Next, he would have to attempt to not be trampled by that waiting Lion, and somehow get around it to his ship? Lotor wasn’t a coward, but there was no being successful. He considered stealing a ship from the Arusians, but he hadn’t ever looked hard into that task, always able to get back to his own craft. He’d be going into it blind.

He frowned harder, and looked back up the staircase, wishing he would see Allura standing there. If only he could ask her what she wanted...

Turning back, he hit the keypad and it shut the door. If he was actually trapped here, there was only one solution to this; find Allura and face his father. He paced across the small area behind the door, thinking about what he would have to do. Everything he had to contact the outside world was in his ship.

Lotor stopped and looked up the stairs again. He would face this head on, one way or another. Without another second to waste, he ran back up the stairs.

 

–

 

Allura tried to breathe. She had never considered that her room would have any tell tale signs of what she had been doing. She steeled herself as best she could before turning around, ready to slap Lance if he said anything else.

“ _Excuse_ me?”

Lance’s eyes went wide and he turned away. Keith was giving her a very serious, and very hurt look. When she met his gaze, he moved closer. She flinched at first, but he held her shoulders and looked into her eyes.

“Did he hurt you?”

Guilt swelled in her, and her eyes prickled with tears. She wanted to lie and say he hadn’t been there, but it would just be too much to handle.

“No. It’s not even what you’re thinking. Not at all.” She could feel her cheeks inflame at the mere suggestion. “He... I asked him to speak with me. He’s only here because I asked him to be.”

Keith lifted a hand and grasped her chin. He turned her head to the side, looking back to where she had hit herself against Lotor’s craft.

“Allura, are you feeling all right? Did... perhaps you hurt yourself worse than we realized.”

Fear flooded through her. Was he right? Was this from her injury? She looked at the floor and considered for a moment before replying to him.

“I’m... fine. The entire reason I was with him when I fell into his ship was because I was trying to talk to him and he wanted to leave.”

She could feel the stares from her pilots, and she stepped back from Keith’s grip as Lance spoke.

“Princess, why-”

“Lotor had come to speak with me about our return. He wasn’t being hostile, he wasn’t trying to whisk me away. If there’s a way to end all of this without more bloodshed and risk, I want to know about it. That business with the comet, he dealt with the after effects, too.”

“Who cares what he dealt with! He’s Drule scum. Send him packing!” Lance said loudly, clearly irritated she wasn’t denying what he had first brought up.

Allura glared at her pilot, and then looked back to her commander.

“Keith, can we speak alone. Please.”

She watched the two men exchange glances before Lance shuffled off, mumbling to himself. When the door closed behind him, Keith didn’t wait to speak.

“Are you really okay? You’ve been so distant lately, I’ve been worried.”

He stepped closer again, putting his hand on her cheek. She couldn’t look at him. He had been worried but hadn’t put in any effort into asking her? She became so lost in her thoughts that she missed him leaning forward. Keith whispered her name, and when she turned, he pressed his lips to hers. Allura froze in shock. Even when she didn’t return the kiss, he pressed for more.

His tongue touched hers, and she panicked. Her mind raced to memories of Lotor’s kisses. Keith tasted different, he felt different, and she couldn’t feel a hungry _need_ for her from him. Guilt flooded her again, knowing she had just been kissing the prince, and he was in her closet right now, waiting for her...

Without thinking about the consequences, she shoved Keith and stepped back away from him. Her eyes were filling with tears, and she stared at the floor, unable to look at him. When he spoke, his voice was soft.

“Did he touch you?”

“What... what would you do if he had?” she whispered and glanced up.

She watched his features twist into anger. “I’ll kill him. We’ve been too kind, he needs to be dealt with for good.”

“And... and what if I tell you I don’t want you to. That I, um, that I encouraged him...?”

Keith’s eyes went wide. Her heart began to ache when she saw him begin to tear up.

“Did you?”

She moved her eyes back to the floor, unable to answer or face him. It felt like the silence stretched forever before he spoke again, his voice hoarse.

“I thought that we... that you....”

Allura looked up. Her brave commander had tears on his cheeks, and she struggled on what to do, or what to say. She moved closer to him and picked up both his hands in hers.

“Keith,” she started softly, “you are my good friend, I know I can trust you with nearly anything, but with how we’ve both been, even before the comet business, I just… I….” Allura took a deep breath to calm herself so she wouldn’t outright cry, her own tears starting to fall. “I don’t think we would be good for each other.”

His expression went dark. “Good for each other? And Lotor would be _good for you_?”

She chewed on the inside of her lip. She hadn’t exactly chosen the prince, but she hadn’t chosen against him at this point.

“I didn’t say that. I... was talking about just us, nothing with him. Do you trust me, Keith?”

He pulled his hands from hers and walked a few steps away before turning from her. She watched as he rubbed at his face before letting his arms fall to his sides as his shoulders slumped.

“I’m not sure how much you can be trusted after you hit your head so hard. Do you even remember what happened before?”

“Keith, I didn’t lose any of my memories again. In fact, it actually helped me remember more from before Earth. Lotor first showed up just to see that I was really okay. And then…” She sighed. She really did not want to tell him absolutely everything. “I remember talking to him. I know what was said, I didn’t… he hasn’t tricked me and I...”

He turned to look at her, his expression gut wrenching.

“Are you trying to tell me you have feelings for him?”

She averted his gaze again. “I don’t know what I feel for him, but I don’t hate him.”

Allura started when she felt Keith’s hands on her shoulders again. She lifted her chin and met his eyes.

“He hasn’t hurt you? Tricked you?”

She smiled as best she could. “No, he hasn’t. He has been quite gentlemanly, if you can believe it.”

“If you weren’t the one telling me, I wouldn’t.” She watched as his eyebrows upticked. “Are you... considering his offer? That one he is always rambling about? Is that what this is about?”

“I am considering him, but even then, I need to be serious about the future... I need to think of a solution to all of this. What would have happened if we never came back? Arus can’t rely on just Voltron. We need something more permanent.”

Keith’s jaw tensed, before he let out a sigh. “You’re right. We’ve been so successful with seat-of-our-pants tactics that we never truly considered what would happen to others if we failed. There’s been a lot of close calls. Far too many. Thinking about if we never found you and Blue Lion was a bit sobering, really. Plus we did do well with the team on Earth helping us make some more thought out decisions.”

She smiled softer at him as he paused to look at her before continuing.

“Do you want to be with him? If you don’t, it’s not an option you have to consider.”

“I would like to... give him a proper consideration. One that doesn’t revolve around the nonstop battles and his frustrations. One someone of his status deserves.”

“Nobody would fault you for declaring against him due to his leading fleets against you in battle.”

She sighed and stared at Keith’s shoulder.

“I know, but I’m also aware he has always been in a position of being forced to attack the woman he would rather try and woo.”

“Allura.”

She glanced up at him, and bit her lower lip.

“Allura... I want you happy. You don’t have to choose anyone you don’t want to. That... that includes me.”

Tears fell down her face. Keith reached up with a hand and wiped them away, but more followed as she began to cry.

“Allura....”

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to-”

Keith stopped speaking as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He reciprocated, and they stood in one another’s embrace for a long while.

When she had calmed down enough, Allura leaned back to smile at Keith. He returned the look, even if it was marred by obvious unease and sadness. He let her go, and her arms fell to her sides.

“He’s in your closet, isn’t he?”

Allura tried to bite back a guilty smile.

“All right, Princess, I understand you need to talk to him. I’m still not sure about all this, so we need to be careful right now with Zarkon freaking out on us, okay?”

She smiled at him and nodded.

Walking to the closet, her anxiety spiked. She glanced at Keith. He looked unhappy, but not hostile. She tapped the closet entrance, and it slid open... empty. They walked inside, He wasn’t there.

“Allura....”

“Well, I guess he left without me knowing. You know how he is!”

“We need to find him to get Zarkon off our back.”

“I can’t believe he actually hailed the castle, demanding Lotor....”

“Come on, Princess, he probably escaped outside. We need to let the staff know not to shoot him.”

“I... suppose.”

Allura started to follow Keith, but looked back at the secret door one more time. Thinking about how Lotor had just left without a word was upsetting. She had told him to say, and he didn’t. Anxiety coursed through her. It was hard to trust him as it was, and now he had managed to get into the hidden passages of the castle. Alone.

Tears started to streak down her face. Had she made a horrible mistake? Everything with Lotor was making her second guessing herself, and now she had to deal with Zarkon... and she had no idea where the prince was anymore.

She cried harder when Keith wrapped his arms around her. She could barely breath. Once she was letting it out, she realized how much she had been keeping bottled up with everything.

He held her for a while as she cried. She wondered if he knew why she was even crying, or if it hurt him more, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask. When she stopped sobbing, she leaned her head on his shoulder and tried to steady her breathing. Keith was doing so much for her, even if it was painful for him.

Taking a deep breath, she was about to speak when the door to her closet slid open.

She jumped back, detaching herself from her commander as she looked at Lotor coming through the door. His face began twisting into a snarl. Shame filled her at having been caught in Keith's embrace when she knew how much something like that would hurt the prince.

“We were just talking about you, Lotor.”

Lotor’s eyes went wide and his nostrils flared. Allura turned to Keith, the unfriendly way he spoke not lost on her. For a brief moment she was terrified he would take the blaster off his hip and shoot Lotor, but instead he just put his hands on his hips and frowned.

She could see Lotor’s clenched fists shaking. She started to walk to him, and put a gentle countenance on her face. But before she could move more than a few steps, she saw him take an angry breath in and turn on his heel back into the doorway.

Allura yelled for him to wait, but he didn’t listen. She made an unladylike grunt in anger, and gave chase. The inner door to the hidden corridor was starting to shut when she reached it, and she jumped through before it could. She watched as Lotor rounded a corner.

“Please! It wasn’t what you’re thinking. Not at all! PLEASE!”

She heard his footsteps on the stairs and ran harder. Reaching the staircase herself, she didn’t slow down. In the dimly lit corridor, Allura easily tripped. Screaming, the stairs filled her vision as she fell face first towards them.


End file.
